The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) signed, on Monday 29 April 2019, an agreement with France in order to train and qualify Emirati postgraduate physicians in France. The step aims to fulfill the healthcare needs and encourage medical specialty programmes whether by obtaining a certificate of specialized studies or fellowship programmes.
This agreement is part of the cooperation between both sides since 2008 with a view to enhance the specialization of Emirati physicians in France and encourage the development of partnerships between the UAE and France hospitals.
His Excellency Awad Al Ketbi, Assistant Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention's Support Services Sector, represented the Ministry of Health and Prevention in signing the agreement. While His Excellency Ludovic Pouille, French Ambassador to the UAE represented France’s side with the participation of a number of concerned officials from both parties.
Developing the National Medical Cadres and Continuing Medical Education
The 5-year renewable agreement comes within the context of enhancing cooperation and partnership between both countries through sharing experiences and reinforcing the medical, human and knowledge-related potentials.
Additionally, this agreement is targeting the harnessing of France’s long-standing expertise in the healthcare field in order to improve the medical services provided at MoHAP’s hospitals. Also, it pours in the interest of the national medical competencies and the continuing medical education.
In this regard, Awad Al Ketbi stressed the importance of this agreement since it copes with MoHAP’s plan in terms of reinforcing the efficiency of Emirati physicians in sustainable ways. He added that these types of agreements and partnerships would help foster the scientific research so as to establish the specialized research centres in the country, noting that the UAE is forming a model in harnessing the global expertise to develop the efficiency of the national medical personnel and boost the quality of healthcare services.
Establishing Effective Local and Worldwide Partnerships
Al Ketbi further said: “Our visits and meetings with the officials of long-established medical training and scientific research institutions in France have yielded this agreement to train and qualify our physicians on the best diagnostic and therapeutic service in various medical specialties.”
He shed light on MoHAP’s keenness to send the trainees abroad in order to improve their skills, enhance medical competencies and establish effective local and worldwide partnerships. This matter is bolstered by the existence of MoHAP’s Development and Training Centre which is characterized by high-quality training services, knowledge management, smart learning systems and availability of robust infrastructure.
In turn, the French Ambassador to the UAE expressed his happiness over the choice of France as the UAE’s primary destination to send Emirati physicians for further training and qualification.
He emphasized the keenness of the French side to establish effective partnerships in the medical training and healthcare facilities management fields, in addition to sharing sustainable knowledge and experiences, as well as fostering scientific research to help develop the UAE’s medical research centres.
Agreement Overview
The agreement features the training of resident physicians so as to follow up on their postgraduate studies and obtain DES certification. The overall number of Emirati physicians who are entitled to register in preparation for the DES certification is 18 physicians per annum.
Both sides will form a follow-up committee to be convened once per annum at least. This committee will keep a close eye on the implementation of this agreement. Then, the French side will prepare a report following the completion of the committee sessions and send it to the Emirati side for approval.
On the other hand, the Emirati side will send a detailed report to the follow-up committee including the commencement and completion of the training of the Emirati physicians. The Emirati side will also send another report on the professional status of those who obtained the DES certification in France after their return to the UAE.
Training Details
According to the agreement, every physician will get full-time theoretical and hands-on training in French hospitals. The training will be divided into three progressive phases.
The first phase is the primary one, through which, physicians acquire the specialty-related essential knowledge and comprehensive skills to practice their profession. In the second phase, physicians would obtain relevant deep skills and knowledge to their specialties. The last phase is concerned with boosting the skills, where physicians will work on enhancing the professional skills required to pursue their specialties.